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Updated: Apr 15, 2026

A Method of Trigonometric Modelling of Seasonal Variation Demonstrated with Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Data
Published on: December 9, 2015
Validation of 1-year predictive score of long-term response to interferon-β in everyday clinical practice multiple
M Romeo1, V Martinelli, M Rodegher
1Division of Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSPE), San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Background And Purpose:
The Rio score (RS) and the modified Rio score (MRS) are two scoring systems that can identify the early predictive factors of disability progression in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with interferon-β (IFN-β). The objective of the study was to validate the usefulness of the RS and MRS in a large cohort of multiple sclerosis patients treated with IFN-β in daily clinical practice.
Methods:
The analysis included a cohort of RRMS patients treated with different formulations of IFN-β for at least 1 year. The RS and MRS were used to classify the patients after 1 year of treatment. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictive variables of suboptimal response at 5 years, defined as Expanded Disability Status Scale confirmed progression or switching to a second-line therapy.
Results:
Sixty-nine of 416 included patients were considered as suboptimal responders at 5-year evaluation. The possible score range was 0-3. A higher risk of suboptimal response was found for RS and MRS in the presence of ≥2 scores (hazard ratio 3.0, P = 0.002, and hazard ratio 5.0, P < 0.0001, respectively).
Conclusions:
Our study confirmed, in a daily clinical setting, that MRS had a better specificity and accuracy than RS in identifying the patients who will have a poor response to long-term IFN-β treatment.

